Friday, August 04, 2006

John Thavis analyzes the Pope's foreign policy stance, as evident so far, and the response:

In private talks, Vatican officials have asked that the U.S. government use its influence with Israel to bring an immediate halt to hostilities.

To the Israelis, the Vatican has made it clear that it views its military offensive in Lebanon as a disproportionate use of force. Israel's ambassador to the Vatican, Oded Ben-Hur, has made counterarguments.

"I say two things: first, that the proportion is to the amount of threat, and (Hezbollah) is putting the north of Israel, a million people, under the threat of missiles," Ben-Hur said told Catholic News Service in an interview. more...